The exhibition titled "Pray Time", which consists of the award-winning works of the 5th Albaraka Türk International Calligraphy Competition with the theme of Pray, and which was organized by Taksim Mosque Islamic Education Culture and Art Foundation, Beyoğlu Municipality and Albaraka Türk, met with art lovers at Taksim Mosque Cultural Center Exhibition Hall.

16 works of international calligraphy artists are exhibited in the exhibition called "Pray Time".

Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Ahmet Misbah Demircan, who attended the opening, said that Taksim Mosque is a work of art, a magnificent structure with its architecture, colors and aesthetics.

Expressing their happiness for opening the second exhibition in the hall on the ground floor of the mosque, Demircan said, "Hereby I would like to thank Albaraka Türk for presenting the results of such a nice competition."

Ziya Altan Elmas the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Taksim Mosque Islamic Education Culture and Art Foundation, who hosts the exhibition, stated in the opening of the exhibition that they will support cultural and artistic activities as Taksim Mosque Foundation. In this way,  expressing that they aim to make Taksim Mosque Social Complex an important culture and art center of Istanbul with its multi-purpose hall, cultural center, bookstore, cafe and art workshops rooms, they thanked Albaraka Türk for the Calligraphy Exhibition which they opened.

Making a statement to AA reporter after the opening of the exhibition, Uğur Derman expressed his pleasure in coming to Taksim Mosque before the month of Ramadan and said, "We are in the peace of bringing this beautiful place together with the art of calligraphy, one of the most prominent beauties of Islam. We had long hesitations about how to rank works which comes from some branches."

Drawing attention to the fact that the works in the exhibition can be shown among the best examples of calligraphy of their time, Derman made its assessment, "I met many talented artists that I had never heard of before. For example, there was a participant from Indonesia who was interested in Ottoman calligraphy. I think he learned calligraphy by acquiring the works and looking at them."

Albaraka Türk Deputy Director General Mehmet Fatih Yorulmaz emphasized that calligraphy brings meaning and aesthetics together and said:

"We have been supporting the art of calligraphy for nearly 20 years with this perspective as Albaraka Türk. We care about the protection and introduction of Islamic arts such as illumination, miniature, tile and marbling, especially calligraphy, increasing the interest in these arts and supporting art masters all over the world. Nearly 200 works from 16 countries, including the USA, Russia, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Egypt, participate in. We are very happy and proud to include these works, which were deemed worthy of an award as a result of the sensitive evaluations of our jury members, who are masters in Islamic arts, to our collection and present them to you."

The opening was also attended by Deputy Minister of Interior Prof. Dr. Tayyip Sabri Erdil, Beyoğlu Mayor Haydar Ali Yıldız, MUSIAD Chairman Mahmut Asmalı, DEİK Chairman Nail Olpak, Beyoğlu District Mufti Arif Cevlek, illumination master and researcher Prof. Dr. Fatma Çiçek Derman as well as many art lovers.

The pray-themed exhibition can be visited during the month of Ramadan.

Reference: https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur-sanat/albaraka-turkun-dua-vakti-sergisi-ziyarete-acildi/2553492